Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M vs Topping DX5

Short answer

  • More power: the Topping DX5, with 1.80 W into 32 Ω; the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M has 300 mW. The Topping DX5 drives 2 headphones to 100 dB that the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M cannot (Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Titan).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — neither maker publishes a noise figure.
  • Price: the Topping DX5 costs $50 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are desktop DAC/amps, $399 against $449.

The Topping DX5 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M on 565.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationCambridge Audio DacMagic 200MTopping DX5
Power into 32Ω300 mW1.8 W
Power into 150Ω65 mW433 mW
Power into 300Ω32 mW250 mW
Power into 600Ω16 mW125 mW
Output impedancenot published0.1 Ω
Output noisenot publishednot published
Price$399$449
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
565567

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

Where each power figure comes from

LoadCambridge Audio DacMagic 200MTopping DX5
32 ΩPublishedPublished
150 ΩPublishedDerived
300 ΩDerivedPublished
600 ΩDerivedDerived

Both makers publish a power rating. Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M publishes at 32 Ω and at 150 Ω; Topping DX5 at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 150 Ω only the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M figure is the maker’s own and at 300 Ω only the Topping DX5 figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

2 headphones reach 100 dB on the Topping DX5 but not on the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M — Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Titan.

565 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the Audio-Technica ATH-R70X: Topping DX5 has +20 dB of headroom there against +11 dB. 9 dB is about 7.7 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M and Topping DX5 because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsCambridge Audio DacMagic 200M headroomTopping DX5 headroomCambridge Audio DacMagic 200M hissTopping DX5 hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+33 dB+41 dBnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+13 dB+21 dBnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+22 dB+30 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+18 dB+27 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+15 dB+22 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+11 dB+20 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+7 dB+16 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+5 dB+13 dBnot publishednot published

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Topping DX5 costs $50 more than the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 2 more models driven to 100 dB.

Nothing runs the other way: there is no axis here on which the cheaper of the two does better.

Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.

Both pages in full

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